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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Gov. Rick Snyder is cutting his trade mission trip to Israel short to return to Michigan and try to convince a reluctant Senate to pass an expansion of Medicaid.

“The governor is en route to Michigan to manage the conclusion of the Medicaid issue,” said Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. “The governor makes a very strong case and we feel he’ll be able to make that strong case in person. So he’s cutting the trade mission short by a number of days.”

For two days, the state Senate has been unable to muster the Republican votes necessary to bring the expansion up for consideration. Under an unwritten rule, the majority Senate Republicans want at least 13 votes – a majority of their 26 members – to sign on to a bill before it will be brought up for a vote.

With all 12 Democrats on board for the expansion, which would extend Medicaid health coverage to 470,000 more low-income Michiganders, the Republicans would technically only need eight votes to pass the bill.

It appears those eight votes are there for passage, but the remaining question is whether the GOP will allow it to come up without their majority.

Calley said that the issue is big enough for the state of Michigan “that it deserves an up or down vote,” whether or not the GOP has a majority of its members supporting it.